The rituals and celebrations associated with Navroz have fascinated 18-year-old Ava Irani Rathenberg of California over the years. Before her graduation from the Palo Alto High School in June 2023, she undertook an online survey this year to determine "Cultural Differences in Nowruz Celebrations (among) Modern-Day Parsi and Irani Zoroastrians.” Last year, the young artist had created Nowruz Self Portrait, using colored pencil on wood.
From the responses gleaned from 226 Zoroastrians in India, USA, Canada, Australia, UK, Singapore, Germany, Pakistan and other nations she calculated that 63% celebrate Navroz in March; nine percent in August; 28% in both March and......